Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who is widely regarded as an ally of Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that outside forces interfered in the United States elections. The statement was made in response to a Bloomberg report which accused Prigozhin and others of carrying out various operations including the creation of “troll factories” in order to influence the results of the US elections.
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“Gentlemen, we interfered, we are interfering and we will interfere,” Prigozhin said.
“Carefully, precisely, surgically and the way we do it, the way we can,” he added according to Reuters.
In September this year, Prigozhin confirmed that he was the founder of the infamous Wagner mercenary group which was accused of operating in Ukraine. Kyiv said that the mercenary group was helping Russian forces in their operations in Ukraine and were carrying out stealth operations themselves.
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Following the revelation, the businessman has faced sanctions from a number of countries including the United States, Canada, and Germany. The Wagner mercenary group was also considered to be a danger by various western countries and attempts were made to neutralise its involvement in the conflict.
The announcement came just days ahead of the midterm elections in the US which will hold special importance to Joe Biden’s term as President. The Republican Party already controls the senate and a victory in the House will mean more trouble for the current government. The election will take place on November 8 and multiple experts believe that Donald Trump can announce his presidential campaign in the coming days.
